41 Responses

How about waiting for college to join an actual fraternity like everyone else instead of poorly emulating one in high school? I’m sure this ‘fraternity’ is very well organized and steeped in age-old tradition dating back to Bethlehem High’s inception. I bet this fraternity throws killer parties with kegs, ice luges and jungle juice… whenever mommy and daddy are away, just like every other student in high school.

Fraternities always sound ridiculous from the outside. They sound even scarier when they’re actual secret societies and helicopter parents are terrified of everything in the world for their precious darling teenagers. Come on, it’s Bethlehem; a lot of parents have too much time on their hands to watch too much network news and freak out over every little thing as it is.

Kids, you want to keep this thing going? Give the troublemakers the boot, no questions asked. You’ve got a problem with hazing, give the hazers the boot. No one who treats someone they would call a brother like that should be considered a brother themselves. Alumni, back this up, and help the good kids fight the groupthink. You can do this.

These fraternity members are not unfairly targeted. Sororities and fraternities have no place at all in public high schools. The schools are PUBLIC and the fraternities/soroties are EXCLUSIVE. All other groups at a public high school are open to all. Students either join sanctioned clubs or try out for teams, casts, bands, etc. ANYONE can join or try out.

Of course these “brothers” want community and it’s a shame that most suburban high schools, including BCHS, are too large. In an ideal world, all students would feel part of the community of learners in much smaller schools. In the meantime, the challenge is there for parents, administration, faculty, community members and students themselves to create and support non-exclusive ways for public high school students to feel connected to each other and their communities.

But the brothers and the older alumni (who should know better by now)have to accept that exclusive fraternites and soroties have no place in a public school.

High School students are the only ones who should join a fraternity. The whole point of going to college is to learn, grow up and enter the real world. Reverting to clique-ish behavior on your first day of individual freedom is like stealing a car to get home from your last day in jail.

As a member of the BCHS Class of 1973, and a member of Sigma Kappa Delta, I can say that my association with the organization was the best part of my high school experience. There were two frats at BC in the early ’70s. One was the “party” frat, which most closely followed the college “image”. Ours was considered the “jock” frat. As the former captain of the BC football (TU 1st Team Linebacker), Indoor, and Outdoor track teams, I was just one in a long line of top athlete “brothers”. The fraternity provided freshman a forum to meet and interact with older students on an equal footing. Tell me where this happens in today’s high schools? Many part time jobs were passed along from brother to brother at graduation time. Many brothers returned from college to offer insight and advice on getting to the next level. In cooperation with a BC sorority, many of whom were cheerleaders, we organized and participated in numerous charity and fundraising events. Our organizations were by far the most active in the school in promoting team spirit and community. I was proud to follow in the footsteps of my true brother (Class of ’68), a top athlete, respected community citizen, and a member of Sigma Kappa Delta. I would have no reservations to allow my son, an Eagle Scout, to join today.

College fraternities are more than beer bashes and hazing, guy. Life is full of cliques and networks. No matter how the egalitarianistas try, they simply cannot change hard-wired human behavior. A college frat, at its best, provides companionship, a social life, resources for studying, the opportunity to form close friendships that last a lifetime and believe it or not, an opportunity to perform community service. My experience decades ago had all that.

There are plenty of ways to become involved in your community without having to join a fraternity in high school. Give me a break, I’m sure all these kids who joined fraternities only did so because they wanted to help the local charity fund drive, right? Anyone who’s ever been to college (for more than a couple months) knows what goes on in fraternities and sororities whether they’ve been in one or not, so the whole charity & fundraising excuse is comical. Ask any of those kids in Bethlehem right now (off the record) why they joined that HIGH SCHOOL fraternity and I’d bet “community involvement” is not their first response, unless of course they are talking to an adult or in a position where they have to defend themselves after one of their own does something stupid and generates some bad press. Sure, tell the ‘public’ you did it for the community involvement and friendships, but when your buddy down the street asks you, tell him the real reasons. It’s sad to think that kids only 14 or 15 years old would want to join a “fraternity” in the first place. That stuff should be left to the college crowd, and even then it’s puzzling. What’s next, a kegger at the Elsmere Elementary School frat house?

yes, guymontag, and only high school students should allign themselves with a political party or unionize, because once they enter the ‘real world’ doing so would only be a regression to exclusive behavior. A ‘fraternity’ in high school that models the greek fraternities of universities is completely out of context and lame. Do they have a charter or national affiliation? Do they have ideals, a creed and endowments? Do they hold annual rushes, to attract anyone who is interested in joining? Are there multiple fraternities to choose from so that incoming freshman can gravitate toward the one to which they most closely identify? No, it’s a bunch of the most cliquey jocks who are already friends from sports teams that just label themselves with random greek letters. I had them in my high school too, and nobody actually took them seriously… just a bunch of yuppies playing grown-up. Leave fraternities for college, where they actually hold social relevance.

‘No, itâ€™s a bunch of the most cliquey jocks who are already friends from sports teams that just label themselves with random Greek letters.’

That statement seems to carry a bias from personal High School experiences. While that statement is not only incorrect it reinforces a stereotype which seems to be the very type of thinking which we tend to stay away from when formulating the minds of young adults.
With this situation in particular (one which unless you have been a member of this community you know nothing about) I have yet to see anything from the time of Sigma Kappa Delta’s creation, which justifies the negative spin being put on their existence. How many past members were upstanding citizens who have achieved personal success? Statistics of course will show that a few haven’t turned out to be as prosperous as others…but for the most part these are regular guys who may have been a little faster, a little smarter or a little more social when they were teenagers. Connecting amongst peers is what we strive for at that age. This is just a specific niche for this group of guys.
Bethlehem was able to provide this environment, so yes this is also something the community should learn to embrace rather than point fingers. This same town is capable of having any group of people, regardless of age or gender, come together to support certain cause that may not be agreed upon by every citizen who resides here. For example, those who stand on the 4-Corners protesting our involvement in Iraq are showing more aggression in their actions when compared to a group of 17 year old kids who wear jackets with Greek lettering on them.

To say as one kid was quoted that members of high school fraternities are “just normal kids, except we have this tradition of brotherhood” conveniently overlooks the parallel “tradition” of keg parties by and for underage drinkers.
Author Hank Newur is cited as believing two main reasons for the existence of such organizations are “status and power.” Hmmm. ‘Sounds like a way one might explain the reason for street gangs.
Without trying hard, one could no doubt find enough other parallels to justify describing high school fraternities as little more than gangs with greek letter symbols.
As part of the effort to convince kids to steer clear of frats and similar groups, they need to be reminded how truly fortunate they are to have the EDUCATIONAL opportunities that they _should_ be focusing on.
Perhaps it’s a bad comparison, but think of how grateful were the kids invited to attend and STUDY at Oprah’s new school in Africa.

Being a BCHS graduate and having a brother in this frat, I have to agree with grover. In the 90′s these were the kids who sold drugs and got kegs for parties. ANd I too can’t imagine that has changed much. It’s sad that in all these years the administration at BC has done anything considering their used to be 2 sororities too.

A lot of what I am hearing is just a lot of stereotypes that the “elderly crowd” of Bethlehem is filing there heads with. There are a lot of things that should be cleared up. First to define fraternity “A men’s Greek letter organization characterized by a ritual, pin and strong tie to friendship and moral principles.” when a tie of friendship becomes this strong is when the term brotherhood comes into play because once welcomed into a frat you have put your full trust in a person and no longer does the word friend hold a strong enough meaning. Although in some cases some brothers of fraternities donâ€™t get that whole concept and its unfortunate when the actions of a few taint the reputation of many. second, I read that there is no seasonal bids going on when that also is not true, sigma has been notorious for the years that I have been there for bringing in the most bids and out reaching to the most kids, other frats choose to do it differently. Third, there is a choice as many think sigma is the only fraternity when in fact that is not true at all, there is an other one with not nearly the history of sigma. Forth, if pledging for a frat is NOT like trying out for a teem then I donâ€™t know what is. from past high school teem experience I know that you have to impress the coach and show that you are worthy of playing on that team, that is the same point of pledging, to find out if they are worthy of your trust, and is ready to be taken from a friend to a brother, unfortunately some fall threw the cracks of this method and once again it is unfortunate that a single person that is part of this group could swing an other persons mind into thinking the whole group is that way, no actually it is pathetic that someone so intelligent to be a superintendent could be so narrow minded thinking he needs to band fraternities when last I thought a person could make choices for them selves which the involvement in a fraternity would have nothing to do with it. All in all the support from a school in fraternity involvement could be a huge benefit to the town and school it self but it has to be embraced not pushed away.

In an age of broken homes, latch key kids, domestic violence and gangs SKD provides a needed sense of identity and social support that too many young men are missing. As the true ideal for the foundation of any fraternity, it is a democratic institution that looks beyond superficial social inequities such as rich or poor in its search for natural leaders. Natural leadership ability is often unarticulated but is the one common feature of the majority of the people that are asked to join SKD. This is why so many of us held leadership roles in high school and have gone on to successful careers in law, medicine, business and politics and academics. Yes, there are few who donâ€™t find traditional success such as finishing high school, but they would have likely dropped out anyway. However, when they met neglect,anger or guilt at home, amongst their fraternity brothers they found love, support and inspiration to go on and become actively contributing members of society. The men Iâ€™ve been privileged to know through SKD I still consider family even 10 years after graduation and I consider myself lucky to have those kinds of relationships. Those are powerful bonds formed at an impressionable age. SKD operates independently and though its longevity is an indicator of its success, its unsupervised members will continue to have the opportunity to make mistakes in regards to hazing, drugs and alcohol. In a world with ever increasing social ills, the Bethlehem administration may be missing an opportunity to work with this organized and motivated group of young men with so much untapped potential.

This response was written in regards to the first article published by the TU about the Fraternities and Sororities at BCHS. Since the full letter was not published in the second TU article I decided to post it here. I am not the original author of this letter….

My goodness, what a lot of malarkey this article on fraternities at B.C.and sororities is! The world is coming apart at the seams, we’ve nearly got a civil war going on in Washington D.C. between our elected leaders, and the Times Union is reporting on an investigation of secret fraternities and sororities at Bethlehem Central. Such intrigue!

Sounds as if you people are investigating some secret mafia order, or
underground terrorist group(s), made up of wild teenagers who are bent
only on violent and destructive activity. A nice attempt to warn the masses of sheltered Delmar residents of the secret evil the lives within the bounds of Bethlehem. I didn’t know that Delmar is on a par with gang ridden big cities, wow. Glad I no longer live in such a dangerous environment! Atlanta Ga. is so much safer, seems like.

I can share with you a thing or two about the two fraternities
and the sorority that existed at B.C. during the sixties. The fraternities were Sigma Kappa Delta and Phi Delta Phi. I don’t recall the name of the sorority, but I do remember all the pretty girls who were in it!

Each group had about 20-25 members. I was asked to join Sigma Kappa Delta in my sophomore year, which was 1967, and I was a member through graduation in 1969. It took a unanimous secret vote of the existing members for you to be invited to join. Many people didn’t make it that far. The pledge endured about thirty days of initiation. It consisted of being made to do work, like washing a car, raking a frat members leaves, or doing lots of push-ups, or something silly or embarrassing. Nothing illegal was in the initiation stage. But you were free game for thirty days for any fraternity member to tell you what to do. Some members left you alone, but there were always a few who stayed
“on your case”. Asking a pledge to do something violent or unlawful would have been unacceptable to the group. Following your initiation period, which culminated in a paddling on the last night, you were welcomed into the fraternity, and were officially a member. I recall walking a little funny for a few days, but I survived like everyone else. That little “right of passage” was potentially dangerous, ans I’m sure has been eliminated in this day and age.

Sigma Kappa Delta had been chartered in the late forties or early
fifties. It had chapters in a number of high schools in N.J., and we had a sister chapter at Voorheesville H.S.. We got together with those “frat brothers” and became their friends. To this day I remember some of the guys from Voorhesville. They were a nice group of guys, and we often went to parties there, or some of them turned up at parties in Delmar with us.

I don’t remember not being able to get into a party, back then. I guess we just didn’t crash parties of people we didn’t know.

We didn’t invite trouble makers to become members, in fact many people who’s names were nominated at meetings, were voted down, because they were thought to be troublesome. However, we certainly weren’t always of a group of total angels either. No group of active teenagers who enjoyed parties, football games and camaraderie is going to get through high school without having a few bumps in the road. The frat guys were no different. Fraternity brothers got in as much trouble as non fraternity students, probably.

But trouble was things like being caught drinking beer in the Bethlehem Cemetery, or climbing the water tower at the middle school. If you got caught, you usually were sentenced to things like washing windows at the Bethlehem Police Dept. It wasn’t a big deal. It was handled, and you might get grounded by your parents for awhile. We’re not talking about knife fights or gang activity here. A fist fight usually was held after school, and lasted maybe a minute, and you were best of friends after that. Fraternity member or not, we all had those little things come up.

Our fraternity had elected officers, that changed each year, and ran
our meetings by Roberts Rules of Order. People with the most leadership ability were elected to officer positions. They were seniors as I recall. I would guess that at least 90% of our members went on to college. They weren’t juvenile delinquents. They were simply popular kids, being part of something we considered special.

We had Thanksgiving fund raisers each year to help a needy family, a formal dance, and a end of year week each year at Lake George once school ended for the year. We always rented out the “Hill of Happiness” on Rt. 9A. A bit of beer was usually consumed, and we partied all week, or for as long as the 20-30 dollars we had, lasted. The drinking age back in the day was 18. I remember hitchhiking at the entrance to Rt. 87 at Western Ave. to get up to “camp”. Hitch hiking was very common back then.

We played football and baseball against Phi Delta Phi fraternity each year. The big football game was called “The Turkey Bowl”, and was often held in very cold weather, playing tackle football, with absolutely no equipment. But we survived somehow, and were none the worse for wear. Both fraternities had members who were also varsity football players, so we had some very tough games. Both fraternities wanted the bragging rights.

With regard to the Bethlehem Central administration, we were allowed to wear our black and gold jackets or t-shirts and sweatshirts to school, and I never remember even one violent incident between the two fraternities. These weren’t gangs, and we never thought of ourselves as such. We were very close knit, and we functioned as any group of college fraternity brothers would. We were friends above all else, and felt a bond. But we all had lots of friends who didn’t belong to a fraternity, or were members of the other fraternity. To this
day, when I hear of an old classmate, I feel a special bond to him if he was a member of my fraternity. Again, no different than a college fraternity.

I can’t speak to what if any difficulties arose with the B.C. fraternities in later years, but I can tell you that being a member of Sigma Kappa Delta, and going through Bethlehem Central High School, were two things that prepared me for the next 48 years of my life. I feel more allegiance to B.C., for the excellent education I received, and the good friends I made, than the two colleges I attended. My fraternity made my high school experience even better.

I recently retired at age 55, after working my way through college,
and then working for one of the best companies in the world for almost thirty years. Many of my fraternity brothers have been very successful people, as well.

I wish I could tell you something that makes better print for the Times Union. And now you know the inside scoop on the old fraternities of Bethlehem Central.

All facilities state wide, need to be looked into, what about, Berkshire farms, Tyron, Cass, allen center, to name a few, these places are also out of control, especially with staff not doing their jobs, or not doing them properly. They continue to hide behind low staffing levels, but, that’s not just the problem. When is nys going to wake up, we not only have kids dying, but also severe abuse of staff.

I don’t remember the fraternity doing anything worthwhile when I was in school (Class of ’99), but why is the administration automatically blackballing the group? Couldn’t it possibly benefit the school if they recognized them as a group and worked with them to do these charitable activities they claim to do already?
On college campuses Greek life is responsible for more community service projects and alumni donations than any other group. Universities have found that embracing them rather than shunning them is to their advantage. When you turn your back on organizations such as this resentment grows and both refuse to help the other out. If a mutually benefitting relationship is formed, both can prosper. I challenge the alumni of SKD to form an Alumni Advisor Board that can work with the District and Community to smooth over and address any and all issues (good and bad) with the fraternity. Show Dr. Loomis and the district that you’re serious and they might start treating you as such.

Alpha not everyone who thinks the idea of fraternities in high school (and ALL that goes with them) is a member of the “elderly crowd” as you so eloquently termed it, in fact I am 33 and I was in a fraternity as well…IN COLLEGE. It’s admirable to defend this group which has been “unfairly” targeted in the media, but I think some people are missing the point here- 14 and 15 year old kids who join fraternities are not doing it for the community service experience. Who do you really think you are kidding here?

arguments used to justify the frat can be used to justify gangs. but its okay because everyone, these “extraordinary young men,” as they have been called, which is a complete misnomer, as they are mostly a bunch of knuckle-dragging hooligans (look them up on facebook,) are all white, and therefore are no threat and can’t be doing anything criminal. lets conveniently forget the matching sweatshirts and all that garbage (GANG PARAPHANELIA!!11!1one) but as soon as “kids from the hood” start doing it we get all hot and bothered and take preventative measures. its easy to play the race card whens its applicable. whatever this gang was in the 70s is reduced to an excuse to play beer pong and take advantage of passed out girls. and the kid who got that eka tattoo just shows you that the best times these boys will have are in high school, and that it’s all downhill from there. at this age, frats and gangs are the SAME EXACT THING.

“In an age of broken homes, latch key kids, domestic violence and gangs SKD provides a needed sense of identity and social support that too many young men are missing. ”

see, this is whats wrong with the frat. these delusions of grandeur. this pompous attitude that they are doing something actually worthwhile. they are the top dogs in high school, and they think they’re all great, with their inflated egos and puffed up chests, and they walk into the post-high school world thinking its theirs for the taking. the frat is what it is. an excuse for kids to get drunk. and, with most parents, and hopefully, the school district, that’s something they should combat, not ally with.

and how about they join a community that provides an ‘identity’ and a ‘support system’ beyond getting drunk and smoking pot”?

Hey motorboatin, when they openly and brazenly admit to it in a newspaper, and then defend their actions as if they were all performed in the name of community service, we just may be closer to the end than you think.

BC student – class of 95. I remember SKD. I wasn’t part of their clique – most of them played football, and I didn’t – but that was cool. The guys were all pretty friendly. I remember Dr. Loomis and the rest of the administration being so appalled by the fraternity that they went so far as to black out the fraternity letters that were visible in shirts and jackets in yearbook pictures. Talk about a case of “Nothing Better To Worry About”. I remember the following awful crimes perpetrated by the fraternity brothers: Please brace yourself, (sensitive readers and children may wish to close their Internet browsers) ….they drank beer. And they weren’t 21! So many of them were law-breakers! You can imagine the ruined lives that followed. Surely everyone who imbibed an alcoholic beverage before the age of 21 is now homeless in an alley somewhere, sipping paint thinner. And thee hazing that took place in the school cafeteria…I saw some guys doing pushups once! Can you imagine the humiliation these guys must have faced? Some of them looked tired, too!

I was in a fraternity in college. It was a lot of fun, and I made tons of friends. I never did any community service. It was just a chance to have a tradition of our own, make new friends, drink some beer, wear cool shirts and chase women. I applaud the brothers of SKD for keeping their tradition in the Albany area alive for 103 years. Don’t let the superintendent or anyone else who spent their high school careers getting “wedgies” ever hold you down.

Now I am recently back from Iraq. It really puts things in perspective when you see men and women die and then come back and see people trying to deny a few high school kids a good time. Please, please find bigger things to worry about. Life’s too short.

A bunch of suburban WHITE kids start a GANG and call it a fraternity and it is OK to the WHITE suburban folks….. If this was Albany High it would be called a GANG and the kids would be arrested !!!! DO WE SEE THE DOUBLE STANDARD HERE ???

No double standard. Gangs rob stores, sell crack, do drive-by shootings etc. I never heard of these kids doing anything like that. Calling a high school fraternity a gang is ludicrous. Is a college fraternity a gang? They do the same thing SKD does. Is a sports team? They all wear the same shirt. What about the VFW? Is that a gang? They have a clubhouse and meetings.

Oh wait, I guess they do have a criminal purpose. Conspiracy to commit underage drinking. 2nd degree paddling. Lock them up and throw away the key.

Come on, Ruin, you can’t possibly draw a parallel between 19-21 year old college kids and 14-15 year old high schoolers when it comes to this crap- while most people have done some pretty stupid things when they were kids, the decisions people make when they are 15 are not even remotely the same as when they are 21. As a much appreciated member of the armed forces, would you rather have 15 year old kids making decisions on the battle field each day instead of 21 year olds? Pretty big gap there. You also seem to be missing a key point here- while it may seem like people are “trying to deny a few high school kids a good time” this is really more about the context of this group and the fact that stuff like this really belongs (if anywhere) in the college setting. Not to mention there is plenty of fun to be had during your high school years without having to join a high school fraternity, just ask any kid who has gone through high school and ever gone to a party or two.

There is fun to be had during your hs years without joining a fraternity. This is true. There is also fun to be had without being in a school play or being in the AV club. The fact that someone can have fun *without* doing an activity does not mean there should be a prohibition on doing it. It’s a personal preference and until you can show me specific examples of how they hurt themselves or other people by being in a fraternity, then they should be left alone.

As a ’67 BC grad and a proud member of SKD, I felt the need to share a dirty little secret about the fraternity that many of you have been likening to nothing more than a gang. While it is true that we are a brotherhood of guys bent on making the high school experience more enjoyable and it is also true that, on occaision, we have drank a few beers (hasn’t everyone}, had a party or two (hasn’t everyone) or climbed the village water tower for fun and hung out with the fabulous girls of Beta Ramma Rho or Sigma, our real and here-to-for undisclosed priority was to prepare for our future careers and college in the pre-college chapter of the National English Honorary Society Sigma Kappa Delta. The following is a link to the society at one of the two year colleges: http://www.calhoun.edu/english2/FAQ.html . So, as Paul Harvey says, “Now you know the rest of the story”. Come on folks, we’re really just a bunch of guys who like to read books and write and speak the language so that it makes sense and can be understood. Lighten up Dillinger and jrgach….life is to short to get incensed about some 15-18 year olds making their high school experience more enjoyable.